Title :
Long lifetime projections for annealed proton-exchanged waveguide devices
Author :
Lewis, D. Kirk ; Kissa, Karl M. ; Suchoski, Paul G.
Author_Institution :
United Technol. Photonics, Bloomfield, CT, USA
Abstract :
The lifetime of annealed proton-exchanged (APE) waveguide devices has been studied using accelerated aging. Y-fed Balanced-Bridge Modulator (YBBM) devices were aged at elevated temperatures and characterized as a function of aging time. The measured activation energy of 1.3 eV indicates that hydrogen diffusion is the dominant degradation mechanism. Insertion loss, modulator half wave voltage, and y-branch split ratio are found to be insensitive to aging. Extrapolations indicate that degradation of the YBBM device is negligible at temperatures of 95/spl deg/C or below and an operating/storage temperature as high as 125/spl deg/C can be sustained for 13 yr with little effect.<>
Keywords :
ageing; annealing; diffusion; integrated optics; ion exchange; optical modulation; optical waveguides; 125 C; 13 yr; 95 C; APE waveguide devices; Y-fed Balanced-Bridge Modulator devices; YBBM device; accelerated aging; activation energy; aging; annealed proton-exchanged waveguide devices; degradation; elevated temperatures; hydrogen diffusion; insertion loss; lifetime; modulator half wave voltage; y-branch split ratio; Accelerated aging; Annealing; Degradation; Extrapolation; Hydrogen storage; Insertion loss; Phase modulation; Photonics; Temperature distribution; Voltage;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE
